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I am Catarina Lorenzo, 14 years old and from Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. I am a surfer, climate activist, and an Heir of Heirs To Our Ocean (H2OO). On June 8, 2021, I had the incredible opportunity to speak at the United Nations World Ocean Day event! Heir Kalina from Taiwan and I were the two H2OO youth leaders who participated in “A Brave New Ocean” event where I shared about my connection with the ocean and my perspective of how the ocean impacts everyone’s life each day.

My generation and the generations to come are going pay the biggest price for the actions and inactions of the present. The climate crisis, pollution, destruction, and human greed is destroying the biodiversity of the ocean and planet including harming humans. I pointed out that we have very little time for action, but there IS still time.

If we act NOW, without empty promises and meaningless words but instead with effective action, we can still protect the life we have and restore and reverse the damage done.

The Ocean is calling, and we need to listen to that call.

*Kalina and Catarina present at the UN Ocean Decade launch event “A Brave New Ocean”.*

In 2021, Heirs to Our Ocean (H2OO) Palau established its own non-profit organization — H2OO Palau NGO! Despite all the challenges we faced with Covid-19 we managed to create this hub to use the vision and mission of H2OO to share it with our community incorporating Palau’s cultures and ways. We intend to be part of the collective of organizations that bring awareness and knowledge about our environment and the world to our community.

Most especially we want to bring empowerment and passion to the youth of Palau, as they will be the next generation of environmental leaders who can lead with empathy and take action that will change both today and impact our futures positively.

Starting off as a non-profit organization isn’t easy.

We are taking one step at a time to work towards strengthening the network, knowledge, and opportunities Palau can give to her people.

We look forward to 2022!

Youth leaders from the Lagos Nigeria Chapter had an eventful year participating in skill-building opportunities and brand audit campaigns working to hold top polluters accountable for their waste.

By Deborah & Dominion, H2OO Youth Leaders, Nigeria

Heirs from Lagos Nigeria kicked off 2021 by attending the H2O21 Water Summit that took place over four Saturdays Feb 13th- March 6th where Heir Deborah wrote a poem titled “TROUBLED WATERS”. We attended H2OO’s Policy Advocacy Retreat in preparation for the Ocean Climate Action Plan “US Hill Day” on April 13–14. At the Hill Days we spoke to US lawmakers. We also participated in the Manchester International Festival and we engaged in tackling plastic pollution as we led a team of about 20 youth in Nigeria for the H2OO Operation Global Sweep campaign and CNN’s CallToEarthDay campaign and attended the International Coastal Cleanup.

In the coming year, we hope to be able to work with many more youth especially in coastal communities and internationally.